London, UK · post-punk · art rock

Dry Cleaning

1 upcoming festival

Deadpan spoken-word over wiry post-punk — Florence Shaw's found-text poetry delivered motionless while the band churns behind her.

Dry Cleaning formed in south London in 2017. Florence Shaw joined guitarist Tom Dowse, bassist Lewis Maynard and drummer Nick Buxton, and rather than sing she speaks her lyrics — collages of overheard phrases, internet detritus and dry observation delivered in a flat, unhurried register.

The band's music sits in the post-punk lineage: taut basslines, angular guitar figures and steady drumming that leaves plenty of space around the vocal. After two EPs they signed to 4AD, and their albums, produced by John Parish, drew wide critical attention for the contrast between Shaw's deadpan delivery and the band's melodic, sometimes expansive playing.

post-punkart rock